Substance abuse clinic

Choosing to Work at a Substance Abuse Clinic as a Career

With the ever-increasing number of people becoming addicted to drugs, the need for professionals to provide services to these addicts is also growing. While working at a substance abuse clinic is not an easy job, it is a job with many rewards as you see addicts turn their lives around and stay clean.

A Day in the Life at a Substance Abuse Clinic

Working at a substance abuse clinic can be a very stressful experience. In order to be successful as a substance abuse counselor, you need to have patience and compassion while also having the ability to remain emotionally detached. Since getting a person to accept the help you are trying to provide can be a difficult process, it can be easy to become burned out or frustrated when working at a clinic.

Nonetheless, working at a substance abuse clinic is a great way to help other people. Often, addicts and their families are unaware of the help that is available to them. Through your help, they can receive the help they are entitled to and can turn their lives around. In addition to helping the addict overcome his or her drug abuse problem, you can help the addict and the addict’s family get in touch with organizations such as:

· Family agencies
· Food pantries
· Physicians
· Psychiatrists
· Vocational training centers
· Welfare agencies
· Lawyers

As a substance abuse counselor, helping an addict return to a clean and sober way of life can also be a difficult process. Although some organizations are willing to work closely with a substance abuse clinic in order to help people get back to living a clean life, drug addicts who have become clean can often have a difficult time finding employment or being given a fair chance in life. This can be a big source of frustration for a counselor that has worked so hard to help a person get clean, only to have that person run into more societal roadblocks.

A substance abuse counselor must also be adept at crisis intervention, as each addict is different and difficult situations routinely arise. In order to be skilled in crisis intervention, the counselor must be nonjudgmental and sympathetic. In essence, the counselor must be able to see all sides of an issue and be supportive of the addict.

Remaining Employed at a Substance Abuse Clinic

Since working at a substance abuse clinic can be very demanding and emotionally draining, a substance abuse counselor must have a true passion for helping others. Unfortunately, many people who enter this field find that they cannot handle the stress and drama involved with working as a substance abuse counselor. In addition, new counselors typically handle 50 cases or more and are also responsible for urine monitoring, charting, clinical assessments, group counseling sessions, and individual counseling sessions. All of this work can be quite overwhelming and, as a result, many people burn out after just two years in the profession and look for employment in other human services areas.

If you do manage to stay for five years at a substance abuse clinic, you will still be responsible for performing many of the same duties as when you were first hired. You will, however, likely have a lower caseload because your administrative duties will increase.

Making it to ten years is considered to be a long career in the substance abuse counseling field. If you make it to this point, you will likely work in an advisory capacity or may even serve as the director of an agency. You will also be responsible for handling the most challenging cases to walk through the doors of the substance abuse clinic, such as working with patients suffering from mental disorders.

Becoming Qualified to Work at a Substance Abuse Clinic

In order to become qualified to work at a substance abuse clinic, you will have to first earn a BA in social services. You will also need to have two years of experience as a counselor in a related field or life experience that is relevant, such as working as a volunteer, working as a counselor in another capacity, or having once been an addict. Most states also offer certification in substance abuse counseling but it is not required.

According to the Princeton Review, those first starting out in the field can expect to make around $18,000 per year and to work a 40 hour work week. Those who stay in the field for five years will work their way up to $29,000 per year while those working ten to 15 years in the field earn an average of around $50,000 per year.

Giving Back to the Substance Abuse Clinic

For former addicts, working at a substance abuse clinic is just one way to give back out of appreciation for the help the clinic provided. Many addicts that have successfully kicked the habit as the result of substance abuse treatment find a great deal of personal satisfaction in having the chance to change the lives of others that are going through the same addiction problems they once faced.

Often, former addicts are the best addition to a substance abuse clinic. For one, these former addicts serve as a positive role model to those that are still battling their addiction. By seeing a former addict that has managed to turn his or her life around and beat the addiction can serve as a source of inspiration. In addition, since former addicts have experienced the hold of drugs, they are able to understand the pain the addict is suffering through. Furthermore, they are a good resource to the clinic because they are well aware of the excuses addicts will use and the lies they will tell in order to get high.

While working at a substance abuse clinic is a demanding job, it can be a rewarding one as well. There are inevitably going to be moments that are particularly difficult, such as when an addict relapses or loses his or her life, but the reward of saving the lives of those that can be reached is worth the heartache for most substance abuse counselors.